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Diagnosis: Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). According to The Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Newsletter,"Myelodysplasia or myelodysplastic syndrome is a term used to describe five diseases of the bone marrow. It is seen most often in persons over age 60. Myelodysplasia is sometimes referred to as "pre-leukemia", "smoldering leukemia", or "indolent leukemia". In patients with MDS, a primitive blood cell called the "stem cell" develops a defect that prevents it from producing other cells like itself, or generating offspring that can produce mature healthy blood cells. The patient becomes anemic, cannot fight life-threatening infections and is at risk of uncontrollable bleeding. If untreated, patients with MDS usually die of one of these complications or, in 20 to 40 percent of cases, develop acute myelogenous leukemia. There are five generally recognized types of MDS: refractory anemia, refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts (excess iron builds up in the mitochondria and may be seen around the nucleus of the immature red blood cells in the bone marrow), refractory anemia with excess blasts, refractory anemia with excess blasts in transformation to leukemia, and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML). Each is distinguished by the number and type of abnormal blood cells seen when a sample of peripheral blood or bone marrow is examined under a microscope. Common findings are oval macrocytes, abnormal or absent granulation of white blood cells, basophilic stippling, and a dimorphic red cell population."
Available data: 63 year- old male.Significant cell findings included anisocytosis, toxic granulation, , and . Full credit was issued when indicating the presence ofDöhle bodies, acanthocytes, echinocytes, elliptocytes, schistocytes, spherocytes, stomatocytes, and target cells (codocytes). Four hundred sixty-seven (467) laboratories passed this slide with a score of 80% or higher. Six (6) laboratories received scores below 80%. |
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